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History

294

An early writing system called cuneiform was

developed in Mesopotamia (part of modern-day

Iraq) around 3,100 bce. It was written by making

wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Modern humans settled in

Australia at least 10,000 years

before they reached Europe.

King Pepi II became king of Egypt in 2,275 bce

aged just six. He ruled for 94 years until

his death aged 100.

The minimum period of service for legionaries

in the Roman army was 25 years.

The first ever female head of state was Queen Merneith,

who ruled Ancient Egypt around 3,000 bce.

About 2,000 years ago, traded goods

from China began to reach Europe

and Africa along a route that

became known as the Silk Road,

as silk was one of the goods traded.

The Aztecs used cocoa beans as a form of money.

Between 1760 and 1840, 7,000 km (4,300 miles)

of canals were built in Britain to carry goods from

the new factories around the country.

Zimbabwe is named after the ancient

city of Great Zimbabwe in southern

Africa, built of stone between the

11th and 15th centuries, but then

mysteriously abandoned.

English

explorer Mary

Kingsley climbed

Mount Cameroon

in Africa on her

own in 1895

when local guides

refused to take her.

The first English-speaking colony in

North America was set up in 1585

in Roanoke in North Carolina. It

only lasted one year.

People first settled North America

around 20,000 years ago. They walked

across a land bridge that connected

northern Siberia with Alaska.

In 1519 , the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán had

a quarter of a million inhabitants. It was five

times larger than London at the time.

Of the 270 crew members who

set out from Lisbon with Ferdinand

Magellan in 1519 to sail around

the world, just 18 completed the

journey. Magellan himself died

half-way round.

The Inca thought of gold as

the sweat of the Sun, and

silver as the tears of

the Moon.

The Inca empire covered 900,000 sq km

(350,000 sq miles). In 1532, it was conquered

by Spaniard Francisco Pizarro and just 168 men.

The Roman empire reached its greatest extent

in 117 ce, when it stretched from Britain in the

northwest to the Persian Gulf in the southeast.

The Roman legal system is the

basis for the laws of all countries

in Europe and Latin America.

The gladiator Spartacus led a revolt of more

than 100,000 slaves against the army of

the Roman empire in 72 bce.

The Islamic calendar started in 622 ce. It uses a

year that is 11 days shorter than a full solar year.

Greenland was given its

name by Viking chieftain

Erik the Red around

1000 ce in an attempt

to attract settlers.

In the census called the

Domesday Book carried

out in 1086, 10 per cent

of the population of

England were listed

as slaves.

Polynesian sailors

crossed the Pacific Ocean

1,000 years ago, using charts

made of sticks to find their way.

The Ancient Chinese

invented many things. The

so-called “Four Great Inventions

of Ancient China” were paper, the

compass, printing, and gunpowder.

14

th

-century

Arabian explorer

Ibn Battuta

travelled 117,000 km

(73,000 miles) and visited

every Islamic country

in the world.

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